I Spy with my Little Eye... Christmas! DIY Ornament Tutorial

 Today we are going to talk about making an I Spy ornament for children. I made a few of these for my daughter and nephews and they love them. For the younger kids, they like shaking the mix to see what pops up and the big kids like the challenge of the game.

What will you fill your ornaments with?

Here are the supplies I picked up at the store. All Christmas is 70% off in most craft stores so now is the time to buy!
You will need:
- Decorative Filler. I used small clear beads sold in the floral section of the craft store
- Clear Christmas Ball with removable lid
- Christmas items
- Spoon
- Tag for labeling
- Pen
- Super Glue

1. Start by opening up the ornament and filling it half way with the decorative filler. Use a funnel or a rolled up piece of paper to help make pouring easier. If you are making these with children helping, I recommended using the spoon as a shovel to help full up the balls.

2. Add in your Christmas items. As you are filling, write down what the kids should be seeking so you have that list-- you'll forget what you put in there, I swear! I like to add in extra items that are not listed for fun and to make it more challenging. Depending on how old the recipient is, you decide what items they should look for!

3. Finish filling the ball until there is a little space at the top. Remember, you will want to leave some space so the kids can shake up the filler and uncover the items.

4. Super glue the lid to the ball. This step is very important as these lids are designed to be removed typically. You don't want a huge explosion with filler all over the place.  Tie the tag you have made to the top of the ball. I used sparkly yarn but you can use whatever you like.

5. Now test your creation! Give it a shake. What do you see?

DIY Ornaments

This has been a hectic week of Christmas shopping, Christmas Parties, and activities getting ready for the upcoming Holiday. In my free time, I was able to make a few ornaments and I wanted to share. 

The first ornament I made was a glass ornament with acrylic paint. I dripped the paint inside the ornament and tapped the sides until it covered everything. I ended up with a cool blue marble look. So easy!

This ornament is an easy one for kids to make. It is Rudolf with popsicle sticks! I used a glue dot to put the red pom pom nose on and those eyes are actually brads, but you could easily use googley eyes, too.

For this ornament, I grabbed some gold and black glitter scrapbook paper and a few sizes of star punches. I stuffed them all into the ornament for a pretty cool look. 

This ornament was super easy. All I did was feed some gold ribbon into the ball and I like how festive it looks. 

This ornament was made with a 6x6 scrapbook paper pad and a popsicle stick. I cut different sizes and lined them up on the popsicle stick to make a Christmas Tree

I love how this melted crayon ornament turned out. I put the tiny green crayon piece and a large gold crayon and used a hair dryer to melt. I turned the ball around and got this cool look. I did end up breaking one of these accidentally when the hair dryer was too strong! You've been warned.

These are my favorite. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle ornaments. I dripped green acrylic paint inside the balls, then painted a line around each ball using more acrylic paint and a paintbrush on the outside. After a few coats, I added googley eyes with glue dots. 

This has been all over pinterest lately, so I wanted to try it. I got some fake snow at the craft store and added a tree. simple and festive.

I love these simple candy canes. We used to have them on our tree when I was little. My son helped me make some with pipe cleaners and beads. 

This was a felt reindeer kit by Nicole Crafts that got me thinking you could make so much with felt! Loved how easy it was using just glue dots.

This was another kit by Darice Crafts. It uses a bell, foam balls, springs, and felt to make a cute reindeer. The possibilities of making ornaments with bells are endless.

And another kit by Nicole Crafts this time made of foam. The gingerbread man also includes a bell. Again, all I needed were glue dots. 

Lastly, I made my first beaded project! This is a beaded ornament kit from Nicole Crafts that was difficult for me at first, I will admit. I've never worked with wires and beads before. But I think I got the hang of it and the instructions were easy to follow.

The four kits all cost me .88 each on sale at A.C.Moore. They were fun and easy! 

Have you made any ornaments lately? Please share! We love to see friends getting crafty.